Hucknall MP Mark Spencer appointed to Defra ministerial role

Hucknall's MP Mark Spencer has been appointed to a junior ministerial role by new Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Mr Spencer will serve as Minister of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) working under the newly appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ranil Jayawardena.

Taking to social media late last night, Mr Spencer tweeted: "Delighted to be joining the Defra team. Looking forward to supporting food production and the environment and our rural communities".

The announcement came yesterday evening (Wednesday 7 September), just a day after Mr Spencer lost his cabinet position as Leader of The House of Commons and was replaced by Penny Mordaunt.

This was as an unsurprising development as many insiders had tipped Mr Spencer not to feature in Ms Truss' cabinet because he had supported Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership race.

His absence from the cabinet marks the first time in over three years that he hasn't featured at the Government's top table having been an ever present in Boris Johnson's senior team, firstly as Chief Whip and then latterly as Leader of the Commons.

However, the news of his ministerial appointment means he won't return to being a backbench MP and will still have a role within Government. 

Mr Spencer has served as MP for the constituency of Sherwood, which includes Hucknall, since 2010.